


Preparations

by SaraJaye



Series: Corriander Week 2020 [6]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Banter, Corrin misses Gunter, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation, Pregnancy, Preparing For Winter, Xander was a Ninja for a while
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:41:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27295831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: Corrin awakens to prepare for the coming Vallite winter, and finds her husband already at work.
Relationships: Marx | Xander/My Unit | Kamui | Corrin
Series: Corriander Week 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985500
Kudos: 6





	Preparations

**Author's Note:**

> Corriander Week 2020 #6 - Preparing for Winter

It's getting chillier at night, and Azura warned them months in advance that Vallite winters could be on par with Ice Tribe territory. So Corrin awakens early, dresses, and heads for the castle's cellar to get their trunks full of warm clothes and blankets. It's still chilly this morning, enough for her to think twice and grab her cloak before she makes her way down the corridor.

She's halfway to the cellar when her stomach growls. When she first learned she was expecting, she'd waited with dread for the typical morning sickness to kick in, but for her it's the opposite. Part of her wants to turn around and go to the kitchens, but the sooner she takes the trunks down the better, and it's not as if she's about to collapse from hunger.

 _I should get it done before he wakes up and lectures me on the dangers of lifting anything larger than a feather, anyway,_ she thinks, idly placing a hand on her belly. The midwives say everything is perfect so far, she's not showing yet, so it _should_ be easy enough.

When she arrives at the cellar, though, it's already open, and there's her husband. He sets down the trunk, turns to her, and frowns.

"I suspected what you might be planning, dearest," he says. "You forgot I spent some time in the ninja class, thanks to Kaze, and it's a good thing I arrived here before you did." Corrin blinks, stares at him, and shakes her head.

"I knew something was fishy when I got out of bed and you didn't try to pull me back down with you." She reaches out to grab another trunk, and he stops her. "Xander, please, they're not _that_ heavy. At least let me open one of them and carry the sweaters and winter coats and gloves, those aren't too bad."

"I don't know, you could be a little off-balance." Corrin rolls her eyes, pulling her dress tightly around her still-flat belly.

"Does this look like I'll be off-balance?" Just then, her stomach growls, and suddenly carrying an armload of clothes doesn't sound as appealing. "Um, maybe we should eat breakfast first." Xander smiled, abandoning the trunks and letting her take his arm as they head for the dining room. The rich aroma of currants fills the air, as if the cooks anticipated her craving; she and Xander spent most of yesterday helping harvest the whole lot, and since then she's been dreaming of currant buns and jam.

"I'll have to gather some wood for the hearth," Xander muses. They have plenty of servants to rely on, but they both take some measure of pride in doing at least some of the work themselves. Sitting on a throne looking down on everyone has never suited Xander and sounds dreadfully boring to Corrin.

"Mozu mentioned coming by with some meat for us tomorrow. She and Takumi have been hunting up a storm in preparation, and I wouldn't mind venison stew tomorrow night."

"We'll make sure you have plenty, then." Xander pulls out her chair for her as soon as they reached the dining room, where two cups of tea already sit waiting for them.

After breakfast, he relents and allows her to carry some of their winter clothes to their room. The trunks will only take up space, and they don't need everything all at once. Afterwards, he sends a servant to gather the wood after all so he can sit with her on the divan.

"At least we'll never have to worry about drafts here," he muses. Castle Valla was rebuilt unusually quickly, due to everyone insisting on pitching in so the new King and Queen wouldn't have to wait too long. Looking at it now, it's almost like it was never a battleground where Corrin fought one of her oldest and dearest retainers, watched him struggle against demonic possession and survive.

She misses Gunter. He writes to them now and then, but every time she brings up the possibility of a visit he says nothing. Hopefully, one day he will forgive himself enough to see her again.

"Not like the fortress," she says, nestling close to him. He wraps his arms around her, one hand splaying across her belly as if he expects to feel something right away. "It's going to be quite a while before they start to move, you know."

"Of course I know that." He smiles. "And I look forward to being there when it happens. Unless it's in the middle of the night and I'm sleeping, in which case please awaken me." Corrin giggles.

"Trust me, I will." The servant returns with the wood and lights a fire in the hearth for them, and the room fills with a toasty warmth and a comforting scent. Xander pulls a blanket over the two of them, and Corrin leans against his shoulder.

Tomorrow, they have a meeting with an ambassador from Hoshido, and the next day they'll be discussing how to improve the worst areas of Nohr with a visiting Leo and Niles. Winter doesn't mean hibernating like a bear the whole season, pregnant or not.

But she secretly hopes she and Xander can have plenty more days like today as the months go on.


End file.
